Film Eval: 2023 “Prospect Index” Submissions

<p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1189491" first="Alex" last="Christo"] | Boone Central</strong></p> <p>What stands out most in Christo’s Hudl tape is his handle. He keeps the ball tight to his body, and often keeps his body in between the ball and defender. Whether he’s crossing it over or simply taking the ball up the court, he keeps that ball low and secure. He is currently listed as a point guard on his profile, but I will probably change that to combo guard after seeing his off-ball ability. When running around screens he gets low and hugs that screen hard to peel off his defender. This is a case of the Prospect Index leading to a new discovery, because I had not heard of Christo before the submission.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1162980" first="Barrett" last="Olson"] | York</strong></p> <p>When a player does not have exceptional athleticism or blistering speed to create space and hit shots, they must adopt a few tricks to keep defenders off balance and guessing. Without the ball, Olson identifies relaxed or distracted defenders and cuts appropriately. When he gets the ball near the rim he will initiate contact to bump his defender and create space. He improved the efficiency and consistency of his shooting motion from freshman and sophomore year. The next step is reducing the time between the catch and the release. He also showed greater comfortability using his left hand in his second high school season, but can still improve in that area, too.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1172805" first="Isaac" last="Conner"] | Bennington</strong></p> <p>The decisiveness that Conner plays with jumped off the screen. He immediately attacks the closeout after receiving the pass, sometimes gaining momentum before the ball arrives. If there is a sliver of a driving lane available to attack, he does so aggressively. If not, he passes it off to a teammate quickly to keep it moving. I saw some flashes of a strong post defender. He can defend the drive and swallow up any space on the way to the rim, and when defending a post-up he is very difficult to back down.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1161197" first="Mason" last="Timmerman"] | Norfolk Catholic</strong></p> <p>Timmerman led the team in total assists, and was second in minutes played per game in his sophomore season. If you watch his highlights, you’ll see he is a versatile shooter as well. He has a good feel for the spacing on the court. He knows when he has enough space to take more time and shoot a rhythm 3-pointer. When a defender is closing out high and fast he will speed up his whole process, and even eliminate the rhythm dip altogether. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1199572" first="Zeb" last="Svoboda"] | Omaha Burke</strong></p> <p>Zeb received a majority of his minutes on the court at the JV level this past season. His shiftiness paired with his strong ball-handling can make him difficult to keep in front. When he drew the second defender he could make the next play with regularity. In a limited sample, he shot the ball well from distance, too.</p>